October 19, 2009

These are the pictures from Christian's birthday party (The PackParty - Pack being a place in Austria). The location is the frat house of one of Michi's friends, who along with Christian and Michi, was also celebrating his 25th birthday. The ridiculous face-painting and beer-glass-to-hand-taping are a result of the 25 Tasks that attendees were given. These tasks included things like 6. Let someone put make up on you

7. Double Fisting (have a beer stein taped to each hand)9. Drink a beer while doing a headstand11. Build something to heat water12. Call someone and tell them that everything is OK (can be only be done after 10 tasks)22. Let someone tatoo youetc.

Nine more days without much change, except that I am nine days more stressed out. Made some progress today, at least, regarding apartments (we're seeing 4 tomorrow) and job-hunting. I am just looking forward to having a reason to leave the house other than getting a coffee at Tribeka, which I only do as a reason to leave the house (/who can resist a latte made from 3.5% milk? seriously, who?)

On Friday we went to a Poetry Slam, which was interesting, but sort of made my head hurt from concentrating so hard on the German. I probably understood about 65% of what was said, particularly because of the speed of the language and the intricacy of the word play that really has to be your first language to be comprehensible. Afterwards we went for a drink at the Brot&Spiele and then to a party in Niesenberggasse which was pretty epic. It is an old factory that has been turned into a private club. There had been an art show on that evening, but the paintings had already been taking down, and what was left for us to see was the permanent art. Painted on the wall in the entry way was a huge, childlike scribbled drawing of a female nude, and I thought, this is going to be good. Beer from a vending machine. A tiny tiny dance floor in the basement. A labyrinth of small rooms. And red eyes the next morning from all the cigarette smoke.

Yesterday Christian and I went to his parent's house for an unofficial thanksgiving dinner. It was unbelievably sweet of Monika to try to recreate thanksgiving (/Christmas - the only other time we eat Turkey) at my parent's house. The turkey and stuffing were just right, and there was just the right amount of Austria added, in the form of Rotkraut, potatoes, and Semmelknoedel. And, we got to meet Anja's boyfriend for the first time. It was fun to be one of the people on the non-nervous side of that situation, but he did pretty well-- especially given that both Christian and Norbert sat across from him.

On Wednesday, the Graz Elevate festival starts, which is apparently a big deal, because every time someone mentions it to me it is inevitably in a reverent tone. Seriously. Wednesday night we're going to an electronic show in the hollowed out belly of the Schlossberg. According to the website, the DJ, "Dual", was heavily influenced by, "the dazzling nightlife of the Reeperbahn, pumping basslines and the smoky gin mills of the harbour...". I am looking forward to hearing how the "smoky gin mills" come across, and seeing if the festival lives up to its hype. Two years ago this weekend we were heading to Italy.

Well, there's a little recap at least. Hopefully after our apartment marathon tomorrow/more harassing phone calls to potential employers I will be bursting with some exciting news to share. 'Til then...

PS. For dessert yesterday I made this, but with mixed berries instead of cranberries, and it was delicious and completely redeemed my dessert making abilities.

About Me

This [was] the record of my time studying for a year in Graz; enjoying the company of Austrians (one in particular), as well as eating and drinking fine Austrian specialities. This log [did and will continue to] track my movements across the European continent, visiting friends and far off places. Except that now I am without the safety net of a student visa, or student discounts, or a student lifestyle; looking for real work in a place where some things don't translate. It will inevitably end up being a little bit more exciting.